Every transaction between the Carrier and the Client will be governed by the following Terms and Conditions of Trade unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Carrier before the commencement of any such transactions. Services performed by the Carrier for the Client will be charged for on the basis and at the prices quoted at the time such services are performed unless special contract rates have been agreed between the parties. The services performed by the Carrier at the rates agreed will be subject to a surcharge when requested or carried outside normal working hours. Normal working hours will be taken as 07:00 am to 19:00 pm, Monday to Friday unless a special agreement has been entered into between the parties in writing. Weekends, weekdays, bank holidays and out of hours will be charged at tariff plus 50%. The rates will also be subject to a “fuel surcharge” based upon the oil price fluctuations. The tariff rates will be adjusted by the RPI (retail price index) on the 1st of January each calendar year.
At the time the Client orders any such services the Carrier will record the necessary details of collection and delivery. The date and time of the order will be displayed on the subsequent invoice with any order or special reference stated by the Client. Proof of delivery will be obtained from the consignee unless alternative arrangements are made with the Client at the time of booking or because of prevailing circumstances at the point of delivery. As all orders are communicated by the Client to the Carrier by telephone or web access, the quotation of the Client’s account number and/or the use of his logon and password and references will be accepted by the Client as proof that the order was made.
Statements of Account will be issued by the Carrier monthly on request. Any query as to the correctness of stated charges, payments, or the calculation thereof must be made within fourteen (14) days of the receipt of invoice which will be sent electronically to the e-mail address requested by the client. All invoices shall be settled within 30 days from invoice date. The carrier reserves the right to apply a monthly interest surcharge to all overdue account calculated at 8% over the Bank of England base rate in accordance with the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (interest) Act 1998 Regulations 2002 until the debt is settled in full.
The Carrier provides the services to the client as and when required and if available at time of booking. The carrier reserves the right to close accounts and remove credit facilities without notice unless a separate contract has been agreed in writing between both parties.
Definition of Terms Used:
1. In these terms, the words or phrases below will have the following meanings:
a) You, your – the customer who asks us to provide a delivery
service, including any employee, agent or subcontractor acting
on your behalf.
b) We, our, us – Eco Friendly Futures Ltd t/as Xtra Mile Couriers Ltd
c) Consignment – any item or items we carry for you from one
address to another, including any packaging.
d) Dangerous Goods – means dangerous substances as defined in
the Road Traffic (Carriage of Dangerous Substances in Packages) Regulations 1992 (and any amendment or replacement thereof), explosives, radioactive substances and any other substance presenting a similar hazard, or anything you may ask us to deliver that could put the health and safety of other people at risk. This includes (but is not restricted to) explosives, radioactive material, and items requiring specialist treatment or handling during transportation.
e) Proof of delivery – a signature, name, picture, or company stamp obtained from the consignee acknowledging that the consignment has been received.
f) The Consignee – means the person, company or representative of the company to whom we deliver the consignment on your behalf.
General Points:
2. These are the terms under which we trade with you and they override any previous agreement between us. They cannot be changed or varied unless one of our Directors agrees in writing. These terms will also override any terms or conditions you may seek to impose on your suppliers from time to time.
3. We are not a common carrier, and reserve the right at our absolute discretion to:
1. a) Subcontract any part, or parts, of a delivery by employing the services of any other person, firm or company who shall also have the power to subcontract.
2. b) Refuse to accept any consignment or part thereof for delivery.
3. c) Refuse to accept dangerous goods for delivery.
4. When you ask us to make a delivery on your behalf, you will be deemed to have accepted these terms.
5. Our liability to you is limited and explained in detail below.
6. These terms are intended to be reasonable to both of us, and if any part of them should prove to be unenforceable or void at law, then it will not affect the rest.
7. If, for any reason, either of us chooses not to exercise any rights contained in these terms, then that will not be regarded as a waiver of those rights for the future.
8. The Carrier shall not, in any circumstances, be liable in respect of a Consignment where there has been fraud on the part of you or the owner of the Consignment in respect of that Consignment, unless the fraud has been contributed to by the complicity of the Carrier, or of any servant of the Carrier, acting in the course of his employment.
9. English law governs this agreement between you and us, and any dispute.
Our Rights and Obligations:
10. We may refuse to accept a consignment for delivery,or any part of it. We may also inspect a consignment if we believe that these terms may have been breached (for example, to check for dangerous goods).
11. We can use any method, or route, to deliver your consignment, including using subcontractors or agents.
12. We will use our reasonable endeavours to deliver your consignment within the time you request, but unless we expressly agree in writing before accepting your consignment for delivery, we will not be liable for any loss or expenses you may suffer if the consignment is not delivered on time.
13. We will take all reasonable steps to obtain a proof of delivery at the time of delivery, and that proof of delivery will be conclusive evidence that the consignment was delivered complete and in good order, unless the consignee marks otherwise at the time of delivery. We will not be liable for any loss or mis delivery where delivery has been made in good faith to a person claiming to be the consignee, or an employee, sub-contractor, or agent of the consignee.
14. Settlement of our charges will not be conditional upon you receiving proofs of delivery, and you cannot delay or withhold payment pending receipt of proofs of delivery, irrespective of when any request was made to us.
15. We will make one attempt to deliver your consignment, but if we cannot do so, we will have the option to either make a second attempt, or deliver to an alternative address provided by you, or return the consignment to you. Either of these alternatives will be at your cost, but we will attempt to contact you first to agree the best option. If we still cannot deliver your consignment, we will contact you for further instructions.
16. We will not be liable for any loss or damage to the consignment, or any delay or mis delivery if the cause was any of the following:
a) War, terrorism, riot, strike, lockout or any similar action, natural disasters (e.g., floods), poor or extreme weather conditions.
b) The consignment being seized or detained by any public authority.
c) Incorrect or insufficient address given on the consignment note or manifest. This includes any omission or ambiguity of information provided by you.
d) Incorrect or insufficient packaging of the consignment. Natural wastage of a perishable or fragile consignment traffic congestion or delay.
e) Any other event reasonable beyond our control.
17. If the loss or damage is our fault, then our liability to you is limited as follows:
a) Up to £500 maximum liability per Sameday delivery only if the value of the goods is declared at the time of booking, otherwise it is limited to £100 per Sameday delivery.
18. We shall only be liable for loss or damage occurring within the geographical limits of Great Britain. For journeys outside these limits, liability shall be restricted to the amount of cover provided by the international agent, or carrier chosen, at the Carrier’s absolute discretion.
19. There are certain items we cannot accept liability for on any of our services. These include cash, notes, money orders, vouchers, credit cards, stamps, deeds, passports, tickets, travellers’ cheques, jewellery, precious stones, watches, precious metals, works of art, antiques, china, glass, living creatures and any other similar valuable articles. In addition, we shall not carry passengers in any circumstances.
20. We shall not have any liability for damage to the whole, or any part, of the consignment, or physical loss, mis-delivery or non- delivery of part of the consignment unless we are advised of such loss, damage, mis-delivery or non-delivery in writing by the customer within 24 hours and proof of such claim is provided by the customer in writing within 14 days after the end of transit. We will be entitled to ask you for written evidence to establish the value of the loss or damage (for example, a copy invoice from the supplier). We may also ask you to obtain an estimate for repair if appropriate. Any claim advised, but which is not pursued within 9 months from the date of claim shall be considered time barred.
21. You must continue to pay our invoices in full as they become due, even though you may have submitted a claim to us.
22. From time to time, we may incur additional expenses in the course of delivering your consignments. These may be tolls, parking charges, waste disposal charges, or similar items. If we incur any such expenses, we will invoice them to you with normal delivery charges, and you will pay them within our credit terms.
23. We may, at our absolute discretion, withdraw credit facilities at any time. If we do, then all invoices will become immediately payable, irrespective of any credit terms or payment dates previously agreed between you and us. If you do not pay us within 30 days of invoice date, we will be entitled to charge you interest at the rate of 8% above the Official Dealing Rate of the Bank of England calculated in a daily basis on all amounts overdue by you. If we are required to take legal action to recover payment from you, our claim will include interest and all associated costs of such action.
24. Unless stated otherwise, all charges quoted are exclusive of Value Added Tax.
Your Rights and Obligations:
Before asking us to deliver a consignment, you must make sure of the following:
a) If you are not the owner of the goods, you have the owner’s permission to enter into this agreement and ask us to make a delivery.
b) The goods in the consignment are not dangerous goods and do not present any health or safety risks, and the handling or possession of them is not a criminal offence, nor breaches any relevant statute or regulation.
c) Only those individuals duly authorised by you can make bookings with us, and they will supply to us (at the time of booking) any reference or purchase order you require to be shown on our invoices to process them for payment. If you fail to provide us with this information, or if the information is not correct, you will not be able to withhold payment
d) The consignment is properly addressed and packaged. If, in our opinion, the packaging is not sufficient, we may either refuse to deliver it, or may repack it to the required standard. A reasonable charge will be made to you for any such repackaging.
e) You have made any necessary insurance arrangements (either with us or a third party) to provide the level of cover required, having regard to these items.
26. You will pay our invoices (including any VAT) in full and without deduction (apart from credit notes raised by us) within 30 days of the invoice date.
27. You will raise any invoice query within 14 days of the invoice date. After that time, you will be deemed to have accepted our invoice as correct and will make payment within our agreed terms. If you are in breach of any of these terms, you will be liable for any loss or expenses suffered by us as a result.
28. If your consignment needs special equipment (e.g., a forklift truck) or manpower to be loaded or unloaded, you must make sure it is available at both delivery and collection addresses. If such is not available, you will be liable for any resulting costs, which may include waiting, storage, or redelivery charges.
29. If you make a claim for damage to your consignment, you will keep (or arrange to keep) that consignment and all its packaging in a safe place and to one side in case we, or our loss adjusters, need to make inspection during an investigation.
30. We have invested significant time and money in recruiting and training staff and engaging the services of courier subcontractors. If you engage (or arrange to engage on behalf of anyone else) any of our employees or subcontractors within 4 months of them leaving us, you will accept a charge from us equal to the last 4 months gross earnings of that person whilst engaged by us. We both agree that this is a fair estimate of our costs of replacing that person.
